Holiday travelers delayed at SFO due to stormy weather

SAN FRANCISCO INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT (KGO) -- Weather is causing all kinds of problems at the San Francisco International Airport. Friday night marks the start of the Christmas travel season and between cancellations and delays, things are off to a rough start at the Bay Area's busiest airport.

Airport officials said about 90 flights were cancelled Friday night; that's about half of the arrivals and half of the departures. For people who still have a flight to board, delays are averaging two hours.

The problem is the weather because low clouds causes low visibility for aircraft.

Oberon Marcus is trying to get to Nashville to see his family for Christmas.

First, his Southwest flight was delayed for three hours and then he missed it because of the long line at the ticket counter.

"Everybody was re-booking and having to reschedule," Marcus said. "I was standing in line with somebody, he missed his flight like hours previous."

Marcus is now booked on a flight Sunday out of Oakland.

"I'm kind of frustrated," he said. "I wish that it could have been on time. I wish I could get home to my family."

For the Sikaffy family, their delayed flight was a wish come true. They were running late, partly because of the wet ride in.

"Hopped in the car, turned around, came to the airport it took us about an hour and 15 minutes from Menlo Park," Isabella Sikaffy said.

However, because their flight was delayed about 90 minutes Sikaffy said, "We'll actually get to eat dinner and relax and regroup then hop on a flight. Couldn't be happier."

SFO expects about 71,000 passengers on the third busiest travel day of the Christmas holiday. And gray skies are a real Grinch, delaying and cancelling departures and arrivals.

Kimi Kanda arrived about an hour and a half late from Vermont. She said, it's "probably not as bad as what people are dealing with cancelled flights."

Tuesday is actually SFO's busiest Christmas travel day, with 115,000 passengers coming and going.